Government to implement Omaswa Task-force report on education

Government is ready to implement the Omaswa Taskforce that aims to improve management of Ugandan universities.

The Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda gave the assurances today when he launched the Omaswa Task Force report.

“The government is looking at Institutions of Higher Education to be centres of innovation and help drag Uganda from a backward state,” Rugunda said. “The white paper will be presented to Cabinet to decide on the preferences so as to solve Uganda’s development problems.”

The Task Force was instituted in September 2011 after a Makerere University staff strike over remuneration. A taskforce of ten members consulted different academia in various countries including China, USA and Israel and proposed a number of recommendations – especially concerning financing.

The Omaswa report recommends new ways of picking university leaders, increased salary but in instalments for professors and suggests ways of generating income by investing in resources like land.

They also recommend strengthening management mechanisms by reviewing the working conditions and restructuring day to day routines.

At the launch, Charles Wana Etyem, chairman of Makerere University Council revealed that public universities lack enough funding to discharge their responsibilities.

Prof Francis Omaswa, Chairman of the Task Force, said Makerere University was one of the best in the world in the 1960s but has struggled to maintain that status.

“The Omaswa report provides an excellent opportunity to get back to the top through evidence based knowledge. We would cut down all the challenges if the recommendations are implemented,” Omaswa said.